During the introductory session to the Design for Animation unit, we were tasked with finding an animated film which features the artist’s hand. I learned that one of the the first recorded instances of this trope is from the titular 1906 silent film, where the artist Walter R. Booth draws a couple who come to life and dance a cakewalk.
I recalled several instances of the hand of the artist being featured in cartoons from my childhood, including this meta reference to the trope in an episode of Spongebob Squarepants titled Welcome to the Chum Bucket/Doodlebob, which aired in 2004. The spin on the original is that rather than featuring a human hand breaking the fourth wall, the characters themselves find a magic pencil and watch as the drawings they make with it come to life. The pencil is ultimately returned to the live action character who accidentally dropped it into the ocean in the first place.
SpongeBob SquarePants Official (2020) DOODLE BOB Stars in FrankenDoodle ✏️ in 5 Minutes! | SpongeBob. 20th March. Available at: Youtube: https://youtu.be/oesOm6XDW9w?feature=shared (Accessed: 03/10/2024).
I recalled a similar instance in a Looney Tunes cartoon from 1955 featuring Bugs Bunny called Rabbit Rampage, where Bugs argues with the animator over how he should be drawn. The episode also features a series of fourth wall breaking gags where the animator – represented by an independently moving paintbrush – paints picket signs into Bugs’ hands bearing slogans such as “I won’t work” and “I refuse to live up to my contract”, a gag where his head is replaced with a pumpkin in order to silence him, and the background is replaced with an oncoming train when he refuses to move. At the end of the cartoon the animator’s brush is revealed to have been wielded by Elmer Fudd.
Unit Brief
In being briefed for this unit’s assessment aim, we were introduced to a handful of potential research topics. I am including some that stood out to me below because I would like to revisit them in the future.
The Golden Ratio:
“The golden ratio, also known as the golden number, golden proportion or the divine proportion, is a ratio between two numbers that equals approximately 1.618. Usually written as the Greek letter phi, it is strongly associated with the Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers wherein each number is added to the last. The Fibonacci numbers are 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and so on, with the ratio of each number and the previous number gradually approaching 1.618 or phi.” (Berndt, S., Obermiller, J. (2024).)
As it was explained to us in our lecture, the golden ratio for visual arts shows us how to make use of the way the human eye is naturally drawn across an image. The ratio serves as a framework for understanding the limits of human attention, work can be arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way that guides the eye without overstimulating the viewer.
There are even golden ratio calipers for traditional artists to adjust according to the scale they prefer to work at. (Hilder, R. for Creative Bloq (2023).)
Useful Resources
We were introduced in this session to several sites we should be reading regularly to better understand animation as we learn and begin researching. I’ve chosen to list them here as a future reference for myself, and will add to them as the unit progresses.
Animation Studies 2.0: https://blog.animationstudies.org/?cat=552&paged=2
Color Matters: https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory
References
Berndt, S., Obermiller, J. (2024) Adobe: An Introduction to the Golden Ratio. Available at: https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/design/discover/golden-ratio.html (Accessed: 03/10.2024).
Films by the Year (2021) The Hand of the Artist (1906) Urban [incomplete]. 8th July. Available at: Youtube: https://youtu.be/Rc4ZsV_SYxs?feature=shared (Accessed: 03/10/2024).
Hilder, R. (2023) Creative Blow: A Designers Guide to the Golden Ratio. Available at: https://www.creativebloq.com/design/designers-guide-golden-ratio-12121546/4 (Accessed: 08/10.2024).
IMDB (2014) The Hand of the Artist. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000552/ (Accessed: 04/10/2024).
IMDB (2021) Welcome to the ChumBucket/Frankendoodle. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0832794/ (Accessed: 04/10/2024).
IMDB (2022) Rabbit Rampage. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048529/ (Accessed: 04/10/2024).
Nigel Mairs (2024) ‘Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language: Week 2’ [Lecture]. PU002333: Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language. University of the Arts London, London College of Communication. 3rd October.
SpongeBob SquarePants Official (2020) DOODLE BOB Stars in FrankenDoodle ✏️ in 5 Minutes! | SpongeBob. Date NA. Available at: Youtube: https://youtu.be/oesOm6XDW9w?feature=shared (Accessed: 03/10/2024).
TMDB (2024) The Hand of the Artist (1906). Available at: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/232723-the-hand-of-the-artist (Accessed: 04/10/2024).
TVDB (2024) Rabbit Rampage. Available at: https://thetvdb.com/series/looney-tunes/episodes/88367 (Accessed: 04/10/2024).
TV Tropes (2024) Western Animation > Rabbit Rampage. Available at: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/RabbitRampage (Accessed: 04/10/2024).
WB Kids (2020) Looney Tunes | Fourth Wall Breaking Bugs | Classic Cartoon | WB Kids. 16th January. Available at: Youtube: https://youtu.be/_Y5jeJqo6VU?feature=shared (Accessed: 03/10/2024).